A glorious inconvenience

“Running late for my night shift at the diner, I was annoyed to hear the doorbell chime, followed by a knock on the door. I peeked out to see a man holding a box of gadgets he was selling. I wanted to pretend I wasn’t home, but for some reason, I felt compelled to invite him in.

“In our entryway, I impatiently listened to his pitch about carbon monoxide strips that test the safety of the air. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as a strip turned bright red, signaling a leak in my home. Frantic, I had my teenage daughter, Sophie, and the salesman go outside as I called 9-1-1. While we waited for help, I called my manager at the diner to tell her what happened and my stomach rolled as I realized that Sophie would have been home all night with the deadly gas.

“‘Thank goodness that salesman came by,’ a utility worker said later, after repairing the leak. I looked at the strips I’d bought and smiled, ‘You never know when an angel will come knocking!”

—Martha Alex, 47, Canton, OH